Goodbye

[XPOFAN]

This is really the end of the road. After all these years and countless "last games ever", there is no tomorrow. My heart is filled with a sadness that I haven't experienced too often. I'll have to put my Expos stuff away and keep it for a day in the future when I get the nostalgic urge to revisit a team I followed from the beginning. There are so many memories, but that will be for another day.

To the people I have met on this board, it's been great. You guys have made following the team that much better. As I say goodbye to the dream, I'll leave you with the words of the late Ray Charles.

I can't stop loving you)
So I've made up my mind
To live in memory
Of the lonesome times
(I can't stop wanting you)
It's useless to say
So I'll just live my life
In dreams of yesterday

[mikey_s]

Hi Folks;

Please feel free to use this thread therapeutically: Vent, rant, update us on what you will be doing in baseball terms going forward. (new team, complete abandonment).

Please keep it clean.

I will be hanging in here a little longer. When ST starts next year I will probably pack it in.

Mike.S

[donzblock]

You don't have to leave. Just move the Expos to the part of the board occupied by the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Boston and Milwaukee Braves, the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Athletics, the Washington Senators, and the St. Louis Browns. Probably in a few years, the Washington team will join you. On our board, you can rant forever.

[trosmok]

The villains won this one

I'm still in shock and disbelief; the one MLB team that I really liked as the affiliate of my IndyIndians is now history. From 1984 to 1992 Montreal's AAA farm club had division winning seasons for all but two years, and we were fortunate to have a number of future stars play here on their way to the show. Marquis Grissom, Delino DeShields, Larry Walker, Randy Johnson, and Andres Galarraga all spent a good part of their final minor league seasons at our old Victory Field.

The arbiters unanimously dismissed all of the partners' claims against Loria, Samson and the rest. As if that wasn't just a crying shame, Selig claimed he was angry that his office was even mentioned in the lawsuit. If he was standing right here, right now, I don't think I could restrain myself from committing felonious assault on his empty head.

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

I feel very sad about this news.

Like I have said before, I always had a soft spot for the Expos.

Somehow it will leave a void. So how must you guys feel...?

I really hope that this Washington adventure will be a big failure.

I hope you will get over it and can see the fun and beauty of our beloved game, though I can imagine that this will be hard the coming years.

[n!k]

Mikey, on behalf of I think all of us here, we would be honored to have you moderate the Cooperstown Expos forum.

[Monarchs29]

Since Monday's announcement, I've been trying to get my thoughts in order for this post. Suffice to say, I'm having a little difficulty with it all.

For those of us who have cheered for the Expos over all these years, we have now come to the realization that the dream is over. No more will we see "Nos Amours" take to the field at Olympic Stadium. And I doubt very much any of us will see MLB action at that venue ever again.

Over the past 4-5 years, all of us have placed blame on those who, we believe, are responsible for our loss. Bud Selig, Jeffrey Loria, Claude Brochu and possibly even the Bronfmans made contributions.

I don't know yet whether I'll pick up on another team or whether this is the end of my MLB years. Maybe by the time ST begins I'll have second thoughts. But for right now, that issue is very much in doubt.

I will find a place in my home to hang my Expos hat, it will never be worn again. I will wish each of you the best that life has to offer. And I will say so long, for now.

As B. B. King out it, "The Thrill is Gone".

Thanks to all, Terry.

[mikey_s]

You don't have to leave. Just move the Expos to the part of the board occupied by the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Boston and Milwaukee Braves, the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Athletics, the Washington Senators, and the St. Louis Browns. Probably in a few years, the Washington team will join you. On our board, you can rant forever.

Donz thanks for the invite. I know how passionate you are about the phils. I think my personal feelings are very different. I have been a voice of dissention against MLB for a number of years now. It is a con game. That BB can be named MVP, that Albert Belle wasn't banned for life, the selfish arogance and disdain for the fans who pay the bills...... It has been difficult for me to rationalize away my dislike of the professional version of basball while rooting for the expos.

I won't have that problem anymore. I won't feel I am being a hypocrite. I have absolutle NO animosity towards washington (politics aside ) I don't hope for a failure on their part I hope for a failure of the whole MLB house of cards.

Imagine you are in a relationship with a mate. You are happy. You are building a future together blah blah blah. Then you suprise her one afternoon, flowers in hand and find her in the sack with another guy. (Who incidentily is uglier, fatter/skinier, dumber...). That is the level of hurt/anger/disapointment that I am currently experiencing.

So for me I can't see continuing the act. My contributions at Fever would degenerate into a continually negative, viscous, hateful diatribe against MLB.

That is a waste of time. I will lick my wounds. They will heal with time. I will channel my energies in a positive fashion (coaching, volunteering...). I won't keep peeling the scabs off the wounds. If I let them heal properly the scars will not show.

AND I haven't left yet. I will slowly trod off into the sunset. I figure around ST of 2005 I will post my goodbye.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Your presence will be missed, Mikey. It makes me wish you actually would have won the Fever fantasy league so you have some fond memories of baseball in 2004.


Almost.


Again, your presence will be missed.

[Ontarioguy]

'Nos Amours' sont parti...

Well it's 100% official now. The Expos are done.

I'm not sure how I will react to all this. There are a few questions that only time will answer.

First off. To adopt a new team or leave MLB behind? If I do take in a new team, it will probably be the Mets. If I stop posting around these boards it means I've quit on MLB.

What to do with the Expos cap? Monarchs said he will never wear it again. I'm wondering if I should do the same or wear it alot. I'm leaning towards wearing it. I want people to notice it and question me about it. I want people to know that Baseball in Montreal could have and should have worked.

When will I see another live MLB game again? What is it like to be a transplanted fan? Although I lived in ONT., I still was close enough to MTL to listen to the Team 990 and drive in for some live games.

It's a weird time for me right now but it hit me hard at the end of the season. That's when I was really down. I'm into the healing process now. Although I do fear a relapse around ST...

[Augustin_"Gus"]

I have done a lot of venting already. This ruling comes as no surprise. I barely went halfway trough the article discussing the issue in that day's paper. So there's not much more venting to be done.

Baseball is a great sport. I really enjoy it, and I may just go on the fan free agent market, we'll see. I know only one thing for sure: fiction is way better than reality, at least in my case. So the Expos will live on on my PS2 for many years to come. I think 2005 will be pretty good. I barely had to touch the core of the team that won 126 games and the WS last season. In 2005, there will be no games in PR, a competitive team and packed stands at Olympic Stadium. Just like it should have been almost permanantely trough the last ten years.

I understand that some people would like to retire their Expos cap. Personally, I will try to keep the Expos alive in peoples mind for as long as I can. That's why I now have the Expos logo next to all my posts. And I will roam around this board, basically bothering people with the team for years to come. I have expressed in the past my admiration for the Brooklyn Dodgers fans, I would like to do for the Expos what they have done for their team.


I said I had no more venting to do, not entirely true. The english language as many expressions I think are wonderful. And there is one that is particularely fitting in this situation. L. Jacques Ménard said after the ruling that this was not a cash grab, that they wanted to keep the team in Montréal.

Mr. Ménard, do I look like a horse's ass to you?

Boy that's a great expression. I'm jealous.

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

I really hope you won't step out of this forum Mikey.

Why not share the good memories you have in the Cooperstown section?

There's nothing wrong with that?

I can imagine that you have some thoughts against MLB, the way they have dealt with the Expos and other things.

But maybe that's only because of Selig & Co. Maybe it will be better with another commissioner.

Please think it over.

[mikey_s]

I really hope you won't step out of this forum Mikey.

Why not share the good memories you have in the Cooperstown section?

There's nothing wrong with that?

I can imagine that you have some thoughts against MLB, the way they have dealt with the Expos and other things.

But maybe that's only because of Selig & Co. Maybe it will be better with another commissioner.

Please think it over.

Thanks for the concern YR.

Who knows what the future holds. .... but the way I feel today......
Thanks

[Ontarioguy]

Feeling Depressed - Remembering...

I'm feeling pretty depressed today. Seeing the new Washington logo just tore open the old wounds again.

Just made me think about how much next summer is going to suck.

I hope all you guys stick around. I had a great time over the last season and a half. Talking about the Expos with you guys was alot of fun. You guys taught me alot. When I found BF we were in a wild card race. We were on a bad trip on the west coast (LA + SD) We won only 2 out of 6. Soon afterwards came the home series against the Phils. That was great. Then the offseason came and Vlad left. Monarchs and I chose to take an optimists view saying that Everett and Batista would keep the Expos competitive. Mikey disagreed, i guess you were right. We spent the year talking about losses, Frobbie, Loria, Puerto Rico and the ever-looming doom. It has finally arrived and I'm going to really miss the banter. Sure, I can pick up a new team but it won't be the same. On a small board like this the sub-boards become like little families (sounds kinda weird, considering we've never met). I would log on everyday looking to see what you guys had to say about the Expos. I even logged on from France. You guys were great amabassadors for the Expos. You told fans of all 29 MLB teams all the crap we put up with these last years. Sure our team was small-market, fairly young and had no Pennant but we made alot of noise here and around the Fever (especially you Mikey, 3000+ posts!!!). I'm going to miss it all.

[bluejaysfan93]

it was hard to watch.......seeing the new logo. Another Canadian team-gone-